Cooking the Seasons: Waste Not Rowen makes the most of summer produce

Best known to his followers as Waste Not Rowen, Rowen Halstead’s 12 years as a top-flight chef - which saw him witness “shocking waste” across the industry - inspired him to become a fulltime food sustainability advocate. In his quarterly column, Rowen, who’s based in Bury St Edmunds, celebrates East Anglia’s finest seasonal produce

If you’re not already, it feels only apt to be sitting outside in the warm summer sun whilst reading this — if the British weather has been kind enough to us — enjoying a refreshing gin and tonic with plenty of ice and mulling over next week’s meal plan.

There is no excuse to be cooking the same old same old in the height of summer: you could cook with a different seasonal fruit or vegetables every day of the month and still have plenty to explore. From hedgerows and trees to the beach and the sea, a day trip out with the family could be all the inspiration you need to shape your next feast.

With berry season in full swing, it wouldn’t surprise me if strawberries poached with the last of the year’s elderflower were already in your repertoire. Perhaps more realistically, a classic Eton mess or Mary Berry’s summer pudding.

There is something spectacular about a berry that you have picked yourself that makes it all the more delicious. East Anglia is home to some incredible farms that host PYO strawberries during summer -fantastic for those entertaining children over the holidays.

Alternatively, take a few steps outside your front door and you’ll be sure to spot a blackberry, raspberry, redcurrant, gooseberry, or even blackberry’s close cousin, a dewberry. For any of you who watched the latest season of Clarkson’s Farm, you’ll know there is a treasure trove in our hedgerows.

Whilst trying to avoid the thorns of the brambles, however, you might be fortunate enough to stumble across one of Britain’s greatest secrets, the fig tree. More commonly found on your holidays away in Italy or other warmer-climate locations, nonetheless figs have a home here in the UK.

It’s rare still for it to bear ripe, juicy fruits with our notoriously bad weather, but the unripe, green figs can still be enjoyed boiled and poached in a sweet syrup and preserved in your fridge ready for the cheese board. Equally, the leaves contain incredible flavour. Infuse milk with the leaves when making a custard, rice pudding or panna cotta to unlock the coconut and vanilla aromas within. Alternatively, try wrapping fish in soaked fig leaves when doing a barbecue this summer to add a wonderful smoked-walnut flavour.

If you happen to travel a little further than your doorstep and reach the coast, there is a world of wonders waiting for you — which could very easily be the name of a games arcade! Beyond the fish and chips shops and ice cream parlours, down by the rock pools, without much heavy hunting, you’ll find an array of seaweed, kelp and sea vegetables growing.

Though slightly absent in our daily diets, the Eastern world has been enjoying seaweed and harbouring its nutritious benefits for centuries in the form of nori, kombu and wakame. Dulse is a wonderful paper-thin, purple variety of seaweed that grows happily on the UK coasts and goes perfectly in salads. Kelp can be dried out and added to stocks and sauces for a light umami boost, much like the Japanese stock dashi.

If the slippy rocks don’t entice you, and dry land is more your comfort, then keep your eyes peeled for salty wild samphire, sea purslane or the bright orange beads of sea buckthorn whilst walking the sea front, though make sure you have your foraging guide with you!

For the days that are slightly more dreary, and a quick dash to the local market is all you can muster, grab a handful or two of fresh peas and relax into the therapeutic duty of podding them. Lightly blanched fresh peas are an entirely different experience to the common frozen peas and that little extra effort is well worth it.

Afterwards, give the pods a good wash, infuse them with a bottle of gin for a week, and enjoy an English Garden cocktail with a twist. You’ll thank me.

Seasonality isn’t just about eating what’s good right now, it’s about going into nature and nurturing its goods. So venture out this summer and be influenced by nature - because you never know where your next inspiration for dinner might come from. . .

Follow @wastenotrowen for more information, advice and recipe inspiration.